Zidane Ends Cristiano Ronaldo Speculation

The Portugal international has been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain in recent weeks following the accusation of tax fraud by Spanish authorities. Ronaldo initially did not react well to the situation, and it was suggested that he had made a decision to leave the Bernabeu in the transfer window.

However, in an exclusive interview on ESPN, Zidane has seemingly dismissed the speculation by citing that the forward remains a vital cog for Los Blancos. He said: "In the end, Cristiano is one of us. He's going to stay with us. And that's it. He's on holiday as of today. He's resting, as he's deserved it. We wait for him to finish his holiday and join us."

Zidane has had a wonderful start to his managerial career after having lifted two Champions League titles and the La Liga crown in an 18-month stint, and the Frenchman admits that it has been a challenge to maintain the happiness of Ronaldo and the rest of his clubmates. He added: "It's not about the happiness of the players. Managing this squad, managing these players, it's my job. I'm going to use all my players because we're going to play 50, 60, 70 matches at times. I'm going to need all of them.

The Real Madrid legend was also posed a question on the club's pursuit of Kylian Mbappe, but he remained mum on the situation while admiring the attributes of the Monaco forward. Ronaldo has won four Ballon d'Or titles over the course of his career, and he looks set to lift his fifth this year after having guided Los Blancos to a La Liga and Champions League double. Despite a slow start to the previous campaign, Ronaldo managed to find his goalscoring boots - contributing 42 goals across all competitions.